The Thunder Valley Casino Resort now has a permanent performance venue on the property in Lincoln, CA. After using a temporary, outdoor concert stage for many summers, the United Auburn Indian Community decided to build a permanent indoor space for popular music, comedy, and other live entertainment.
The opening weekend of The Venue featured sold-out performances by The Eagles, Bruno Mars, and Santana. The artists and the audiences have offered many compliments for the new performance space, confirming that it provides a great experience for everyone both on and off stage. Several concerts later, and the space continues to impress and delight audiences, technicians, and performers.
One of the most popular elements of the former outdoor stage was the bars positioned along the edges of the seating area, allowing guests to see and hear the show while placing their drink orders. The design team picked up this element in the new auditorium design where six bars are incorporated on three different seating levels that all have views of the stage, continuing that tradition for guests who don’t want to miss a minute of the show.
Exceptional sightlines and a strong sense of intimacy are achieved in the 4,500-seat auditorium, a result of close collaboration between Schuler Shook and OTJ Architects. Balconies at The Venue wrap the side walls and embrace the stage, a relationship that is further emphasized by Schuler Shook’s architectural lighting design. Accessible seating is located at the front of every auditorium level, seamlessly integrated with the room while providing clear sightlines over standing patrons. The guest experience is further enhanced by a covered security queue area just outside the main entrance and generous concession and circulation spaces on every level.
Visiting artists enjoy a private stage door entry and dressing suites that allow the headliners to remain separate from the crew or catering staff if desired, with plenty of room for tour buses just outside the door. A carefully located meet and greet room provides a VIP photo opportunity while never allowing the public to reach the other back of house spaces. The production team finds a large loading zone directly connected to the stage with ample power and data infrastructure and rigging steel that extends well into the auditorium to support concerts, boxing, or mixed martial arts. Schuler Shook designed the rigging and lighting systems to be simple and flexible, including the ability for decorative LED features in the auditorium to be controlled by the show console when desired.
Features that most guests will never see include a dedicated path, separate from stage operations, to transport catering or merchandise to the lobby; a large lift at the front of the stage to move production equipment into the auditorium; and deep storage “drawers” under the stage that hold approximately 700 portable chairs, allowing the flat floor zone to be easily reconfigured or cleared for specific events. The Thunder Valley project administration and production teams were terrific collaborators throughout the process. In addition to OTJ Architects, the design and construction team included Akustiks, NV5, Walter P Moore, and McCarthy.